Le Chien qui Fume - A Smokey Life

A surrealist mystery that seeks to uncover the truth about TheSmoking Dog

'Le Chien qui Fume - A Smokey Life' is a magic realist mystery that seeks to uncover a secret history. Did the Smoking Dog, icon of "low-brow" art, really exist? ... and if so, what was his connection with the work of artists such as James Ensor, André Breton and Arthur Rimbaud? Or was he just a figment of an artist’s imagination?

SYNOPSIS:

Dr. Sylvie Gaspard, an expert on French Surrealist poetry, takes us on an international journey to discover the secret of this fabled creature and his place in the history of modern art. Informed by rarely before seen paintings, old film footage and interviews with art critics, theorists, and collectors – this secret history will change the way you think about art, truth and possibly life itself. After inheriting a painting brought from Belgium to Australia by her great grand father, Sylvie becomes convinced that this might be a lost work by the great Belgian artist James Ensor. She takes the painting to a variety of experts to seek its provenance but is disappointed by their skeptical response. This unusual work, depicting a troupe of performing dogs, a Chinese woman and the Smoking Dog of our story, becomes the catalyst for an incredible journey…

Sylvie is catapulted into an international search, to Belgium, Paris and Hong Kong, in order to prove the authenticity of the painting. Before long, however, she realizes that the painting is merely a gateway to an even greater mystery - the increasingly likely existence of its subject, the amazing Smoking Dog. Along the way she meets art experts, shady collectors, grandchildren of European painters and all sorts of unlikely people as she edges closer to uncovering the secret of this remarkable creature.Caught between two worlds, the Smoking Dog - no longer a dog and certainly not a human - tries to understand the purpose of its existence. As Sylvie discovers more about this dog she realizes that what she is really looking for is the answer to an existential question – “Who am I and what is my purpose?”

'Le Chien Qui Fume - a Smokey Life' tells the story of a smoking dog - a figure extracted from early 20th century art in order to represent the untold stories of history's outsiders.Michael Vale and Donna McRae have been developing this project since 2002. Thus far it has been realised in many forms - short films, paintings, exhibitions and creative writing. McRae & Vale (mcraeandvale) are now developing a feature film in the form of a "specumentary" - a "what if?" narrative - a magic realist mystery.